The sole surviving inhabitant of the planet Argos—a
world from Krypton’s star system—Kara was discovered preserved in a cryonic
tube by Superman during a
chance visit to the planet.Taken back to Earth and adopted by the Kentfamily, Kara Kent
acts as both a link to Kal-El's heritage and, as Supergirl, an
ally in the never-ending battle against injustice.

Kids'
WB on Supergirl: "When Krypton exploded, its smaller neighbor planet,
Argos, was thrown out of its rotation and sent flying into space.
Fortunately, Argos' top scientist convinced the people of Argos that Krypton's
destruction was at hand, and together they managed to construct a force field
that maintained the gravity and atmosphere of their planet. For sixteen
years the residents of Argos survived. In time, [however], Argos' force
field began to fail and, sensing, the end of their world, the scientist placed
her family in cryo-tubes to preserve them until help could arrive. Kara,
however, was the only one to survive. Clark was delighted to know there
had been another survivor of the Krypton system.

"Superman
introduced Kara to his adoptive parents who took her in and are now helping her
adjust to life on Earth. In order to blend in, Kara has taken the last
name Kent and Jonathan and Martha explain that she is a niece on Jonathan's side
of the family. Inspired by her 'cousin' Clark, Kara has made a costume
similar to Superman's and occasionally joins on missions as Supergirl.
Kara frequently visits Clark in Metropolis and, as Supergirl, she has full
access to Superman's Fortress of Solitude.

"Because
Argosians and Kryptonians sprang from a common humanoid ancestor millions of
years before, Supergirl's powers closely parallels Superman's. As a
result, Supergirl has powers that are similar to Superman's (flight, strength,
heat vision, super-hearing), but is more resistant to Kryptonite (exposure to
the radioactive element would will Superman in about twenty minutes, but
Supergirl could hold out for several hours). Also, because Supergirl is
nearly half Superman's age (16), her powers are not quite as strong as
his. She more than makes up for this in attitude, which is cocky, hip, and
very independent.

"With
Supergirl, Superman has a living link to his alien heritage, and someone he can
talk to about his dual lives as Superman and Clark Kent. She is a frequent
friendly ally who can be trusted with Superman's secret (courtesy of the
New
Batman/
Superman Adventures Homepage)."

Cartoon Network on
Supergirl:“Supergirl is the only survivor from Krypton’s sister planet,Argos.Disguised as Kara Kent, Supergirl joins her ‘cousin’ Superman in his
fight against evil.Not
surprisingly, Supergirl has powers similar to Superman’s:flight, super-strength, and heat vision.Because she is young—a teen-ager, in fact—her powers are still
developing, but don’t get the wrong idea:Supergirl packs a powerful punch and has attitude to spare (courtesy of Cartoon
Network)!”

Paul
Dini on Supergirl (circa 1998):“We
wanted a take on her that was not the current version, [where she was] some sort
of alien who is combined with a human girl and is all confused and angst-ridden,
and we didn’t want to do the blob of protoplasm that takes the shape of
Supergirl’s form.We wanted to do
the original version, which is Superman’s cousin from Krypton; [however], we
ran into a wall with DC because they insisted that Superman be the last
Kryptonian. So we did a compromise:she’s
from a small planet in the neighboring system that was colonized by Kryptonians,
but they’ve evolved slightly differently.

“She’s
sort of a cousin, in terms of being from pretty much the same race and, when she
shows up on Earth, she’s a feisty 16-year old.She loves being here, she loves being able to fly, she loves having
powers. […] She really wants to join up with Superman and help him whenever
she can […but] he’s very protective of her because he doesn’t want her
rushing into some battle with a supervillain and getting killed.He wants her to realize there’s responsibility involved in what she’s
doing (courtesy of [website name removed]).”

Paul
Dini on Supergirl's place in the Justice League:“Supergirl’s great—I saw the first episode ['Initiation'].She’s the kid of the group, [and] everything she does reminds you that
here’s the energetic kid hero, trying to earn her wings (courtesy of [website
name removed]).”

Bruce
Timm on Supergirl’s age:“And,
for the record, we haven’t really set the DCAU timeline in stone (it helps
keep our storytelling options open), but in “Fearful Symmetry,” Kara
references the events of a STAS episode as occurring, “A few years ago,” so
I figure that puts her at about eighteen or nineteen (courtesy of Toon Zone).”

Bruce
Timm on returning to Supergirl’s “classic” outfit (circa 2004):“Which ‘classic’ outfit?The
original Jim Mooney-era one?Or the
70’s Bob Oskner-era puffy-sleeved blouse / hotpants combo?I don’t know, they’re both kinda retro.Of course, her current ‘riot grrl’ look is rapidly on its way to
becoming ‘retro’ too, so maybe it is time to go back to the drawing board
(courtesy of Toon Zone).”

Dwayne
McDuffie on Supergirl:“Kara is
vulnerable to Kryptonite, as previously revealed in [the STAS episode
‘Legacy’], if not other places.The
average person on the street probably thinks she’s Superman’s sister, but
the fiction is that she’s his cousin. [...] Although they
aren't blood-kin, Superman [...] often refers to her as his cousin (and thinks of her that way, too).

“[Also],
just because there’s a planet named Argosdoesn’t mean there isn’t an ArgoCityon Krypton.There’s a JupiterCityin Florida,
for instance.That doesn’t mean
there’s no planet Jupiter (courtesy of DwayneMcDuffie.com).”